10/04/2018
NEWS STORY
Just two weeks after the software bug that caused Mercedes to miscalculate the gap to Sebastian Vettel during the VSC period, thereby allowing the German to pit and retain the lead, going on to win the Australian Grand Prix, further issues blighted Lewis Hamilton's race in Bahrain.
Fans listened in frustration as the Briton called for information on Vettel's pace and strategy, while a microphone issue meant much of what he was saying was intelligible to the team.
In the aftermath of a weekend that saw Vettel take back-to-back wins and thereby open up a 17 point advantage, Hamilton has called on his team to sort its communication issues.
"It was difficult to know how hard to lean on the tyres in the early phases, because at one point I understood that the guys were doing two stops," he said of his Maranello rivals, "and there was no way they were going to get to the end on the one stop.
"I've got to save tyres so that when we're at the end and he catches me I can still fight," he added. "Or I've got to catch him while the tyres are still good and close the gap to the best of my ability, because they're doing a one-stop. I didn't have that information, so there was lots of driving around in no man's land for a while. But that's just something we need to work on.
"The radio wasn't working properly, and in the heat of the moment it's difficult to know what information you need to give. They couldn't hear me. I could hear them, but they were always coming back saying 'I can't hear you'. And when you're trying to give feedback out of a corner, you're taking your mind off driving the perfect line.
"We're going to sit down and discuss the last two races," he said, aware that China is just a few days away. "Different drivers like different feedback. I don't have a ton. There are times you need more. If you haven't spoken about it and set up a strategy to action what you need, the guys are stressed in the garage because they have messages from the pit-wall, messages coming from both sides, it's stressful for someone like ‘Bono' and then I come in.
"We're going to sit down and discuss it and try to work on the points and improve, and I have no doubt we will. I don't want them to talk to me all the time when they don't need to. It's just working out a rapport that works best. It's even more important that it's precise information."
Clearly not a product of the Kimi Raikkonen School of Radio Communication.